Mechanical Weed Control

DESCRIPTION

Mechanical weed control is one of the key tools in the organic farmer’s toolbox!

Join us as Scott talks to Sam Hitchcock Tilton about tine weeders, interrow cultivators, finger weeders and more. They talk weed biology, timing, and soil health.

We recorded today’s episode in March at the 2020 Prairie Organics Conference in Brandon Manitoba.

Scott gets into the weeds with Sam Hitchcock Tilton as they discuss ways to control weeds at all stages of their life cycle throughout the growing season.

(50:31) May 21, 2020

RESOURCES

• Dalhousie University has put together some great resources from harrowing to robotic weed control to help you decide what will work best for your farm.

  • https://www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/oacc/en-home/resources/pest-management/weed-management/mechanical-control.html

• Manitoba Agriculture has also summarized some of the issues with weed control in organic cropping systems here: https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/weeds/weed-management-in-organic-crop-systems.html

• And don’t forget to check out the resources on Pivot and Grow! https://pivotandgrow.com/resources/grain-resources/grain-production/

GUEST BIO

Sam Hitchcock Tilton is a Horticulture Instructor at Lakeshore Technical College, just North of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He has a background in vegetable farming and earned a Master’s degree in Horticulture from Michigan State University, where he studied and conducted research on precision weeding tools. Sam was the Midwest Sales Representative for KULT-Kress precision cultivation tools. For this work he designed weeding machines for all types of crops, developed new tools, and traveled through Europe and the US visiting farms. He writes for Vegetable Grower’s News and Growing for Market, and is the organizer of the annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day – the nation’s premier event for weeding tool demonstrations.

SPONSOR

Thanks to Regen Ag Solutions for helping to sponsor this episode. If you’re thinking about trying out some of the machines Sam and Scott were talking about, check out their website at https://regenagsolutions.ca/ or give them a call on 1-204-999-1232.

Their farming solutions aim to help farmers achieve balance and synergy between plants and soil. They provide their clients with the best products to develop soil nutrition, increase yields and promote long-term sustainability.